Amp Music - A Review by Marke Jenkins
09/28/05

 SAIYUJI
Richard Bone

     Richard Bone is an absolute veteran of the electronic music field, mastering first electro-pop then a huge sonic vocabulary of world and ambient music, and innovating in the field of self-release through his own Quirkworks label.

     Saiyuji is a typically impressive production, titled after the Buddhist temples of Singapore and conjuring up some of their mystery and atmosphere initially by layering analog synthesizers which play gentle, constantly varying patterns. Sprinkled over the top of these are bells and chimes (a little "hare krishna" at times) together with world beat drums, synthesized flutes, voices and electric pianos.

     The music touches on that of Deep Forest when at its most up-tempo, at other times on Mike Oldfield's music for "The Wind Chimes" thanks to a shared Eastern influence. But Bone's music is far from being derivative and its directions are never predictable. The sound mix is pure and clear, and as a bonus there are ambient videos included on the disk to accompany two tracks, "By Any Other Name" (which naturally enough features images of roses) and "Improbable Earth", which may indicate another interesting new direction for this endlessly versatile composer.

MJ.